Joburg's city manager faces arrest

The squatter camp in Crown Mines to which businesses are objecting. File picture: Chris Collingridge/The Star

The squatter camp in Crown Mines to which businesses are objecting. File picture: Chris Collingridge/The Star

Published Mar 28, 2017

Share

Johannesburg – A warrant of arrest is about to be issued for Joburg’s city manager, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni.

This follows action by a group of Crown Mines business owners who objected to the establishment of an illegal squatter camp in their suburb. They went to court and were granted two orders to force the City of Joburg to take action.

The court ordered the city to investigate the people living there and to find out how many would need temporary accommodation. It was also ordered to conduct a raid before the end of January.

The city says, however, that it has abided by the court orders as it has already undertaken an audit of the people living there.

“A verification process is under way to establish if there are individuals who previously benefited from the government housing programme in the past and whether any of them have properties elsewhere.

“The next step would be to ascertain the number of residents who qualify for the expanded social package,” said City of Joburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane.

But the spokesperson for the businesses, Laurence Lotzoff, said the city has ignored the court orders and that the squatter camp keeps growing because of the city’s inaction.

“We got the two court orders in May and June last year. The city did attempt to take action. The roll-call took place around mid-morning when most people were away, and they were told that they would have to come again on another day. But this has not happened, and nor has the raid.

“We are going ahead with the contempt of court action and we have already instructed our attorneys to proceed – maybe this will wake them up,” he said.

Lotzoff, who has had a business in the suburb for more than 20 years, said businesses in Crown Mines were attempting to upgrade the historical area and were infuriated by the city’s lack of interest.

He said it started declining a long time ago, but things became really bad when the Department of Home Affairs established a refugee reception centre there.

“They told us at the time it was temporary and that it would be there for only six months, but it has been there for years,” he said.

“The building was not suitable for such huge volumes of people, and conditions deteriorated fast. People seeking asylum and refugee status started squatting on any pocket of vacant land they could find, sleeping there overnight and using it as their ablution facilities.”

Lotzoff and other landowners took the department to court and won an application to have the refugee centre relocated. This was done about six years ago.

But by then, people had started invading the 20 historic mining houses and erecting shacks.

Although they are national monuments, most of them have been so badly vandalised that the owner has applied for a demolition order. The owner wants to develop the land and establish more businesses there. This would create employment for many people.

“There are several top companies with premises in this area, and they look after their buildings, but we are surrounded by crime and grime,” Lotzoff said.

Illegal dumping was another headache for landowners. “This has to be the biggest dumping site in Joburg. Every- where you look there are piles of rubble. People come here with trucks and dump anywhere. The Joburg Metro Police Department cannot keep up,” Lotzoff pointed out.

Crown Mines has a long heritage background. It was started shortly after gold was discovered on the farm Langlaagte, on which Crown Mines now stands.

Gareth Anstee, who has been involved in the growth and development of Crown Mines and was instrumental in the formation of the Crown Mines Owners’ and Operators’ Association, has researched the suburb’s history.

He said Crown Mines was developed shortly after gold was discovered. Initially, the land was owned by Rand Mines and used for mining operations.

But as gold was depleted in the vicinity, the use of the land around Crown Mines for mining operations was no longer required.

As Joburg grew, the need for zoned industrial land increased. And after the success of the establishment of the neighbouring township of Amalgam, land in Crown Mines was brought to the market in the mid-1980s, firstly by RMP Properties, which became known as iProp.

This land was divided and purchased mainly by owners and occupiers from the nearby suburbs of Fordsburg and Mayfair, as well as the CBD.

There are about 200 businesses there now in light manufacturing, warehousing and distribution, and the wholesale industry.

Crown Mines has also become a trading hub as a result of many Indian and Chinese community members setting up their businesses there. This has increased the demand for land in the suburb, resulting in land being sold at some of the highest values per square metre in Gauteng.

@annacox

The Star

Related Topics: